I joke with my Opinion team at USA TODAY that I watch all the awards shows so that in case there's bad news, I can cover it for us. This was the case in 2022, when I wrote a column headlined, "Will Smith and Regina Hall turned the Oscars into a slap in the face in a night of cringe."

Since January, however, the awards shows have stayed on track with no spectacular crashes. So Sunday night I settled in with the family to watch the 96th Oscars ceremony, ready to enjoy the finale of a not-so-newsy awards season.

And guess what? Not only do I not have bad news, but the extraordinary moments out of the more than three hours were so good that I thought it's only fair to recognize what went spectacularly right with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year.

Overlooked at the Oscars:There were many movies and performances that were tragically overlooked Sunday night and during the whole awards season

Here are my favorite acceptance speeches, celebrations of unsung heroes and Oscar show performances. They chilled me, as I thought of where we are in history. Yet, they also made me cheer the academy for giving them a global platform:

In accepting the best documentary award for "20 Days in Mariupol," about the........

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